How are Retired Items Determined? (1 Viewer)

WesternOutlaw

WesternOutlaw

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Hi all,
As I was looking at the latest dispatches and "retirements", I could not help to think about the various items that K&C retires. It got me wondering, how are retired items determined?

Is it based on sales?
Product volume?
Supply/Demand?
Factory/manufacturing reasons?
Profit margin?

Or simply a random choice in various themes?

Have any of you wondered about retired items?
 
These are questions for Andy to answer but you are also requesting answers to questions that Andy may want to keep confidential as it may give competitors a look into how he runs this part of his business.

My own view is it's probably a combination of the factors you mention. Not to be ignored is the overhead in carrying a large amount of inventory. Carrying costs can be significant.
 
This is what I think....

All is based on contract manufacture - say 500 pieces and then distributed and once sold out from KnC warehouse (distributor can't put in an order anymore or low in stock) this item is "retired".


However if a piece sale is TOO GOOD then a second version will be released... {sm4}


We had seen that on the Char 1 Bis and recently the Hitler Bunker (with different slogan on the wall) and the set of Germans Milking a Cow (was Black now Brown) and the Green Tiger Tank (offered in more 2 variants), the Winter Tiger Tank (new tank commander).


If I am not wrong for tanks the magic number is 500 pieces ^&grin
 
WesternOutlaw said:
Hi all,
As I was looking at the latest dispatches and "retirements", I could not help to think about the various items that K&C retires. It got me wondering, how are retired items determined?

Is it based on sales?
Product volume?
Supply/Demand?
Factory/manufacturing reasons?
Profit margin?

Or simply a random choice in various themes?

Have any of you wondered about retired items?
Click to expand...


I asked Andy in a public forum and he was quite open about what drives the decision. Once sales slow sufficiently (or stop) an item is retired. In that sense, the decision is made by the purchasers but whether there is a magic number was something I did not think to ask. I was asking in the context of casualty figures because in the ranges I was collecting at the time they were all gone. If memory serves me correctly he said that they were often the least popular. Ironically, being retired made them popular because they were no longer readily available. I am now a bit uncertain but I think he (or perhaps someone else?) mentioned his Russian Napoleonics which were not popular and were retired quickly which then made them much sought after.
 
The older MK series (Medieval Knights) seems very much sort after - can't seem to buy one for at retail $32 on ebay these days - even used ... :mad:

For this range, if you noticed these MK figures and horses have colorful shields and swords and armor/clothing which means a lot of painting work and this translates to very high $ in the manufacture in today's term.
 
I get the impression that there was lots of demand for Jetty sections individually, and not so much for foot bridges, and they had to find a way to dispose of the excess inventory. Notice that the jetty came back this month, but the bridge did not...
 
One reason for retiring I thought, was sometimes based on upcoming new releases for the same series needing to downsize before adding anymore. Not sure why there would be a problem for a series getting too large, but I have seen many retirements followed shortly afterwards by new releases of the same. Go figure. Robin.
 
villagehorse said:
One reason for retiring I thought, was sometimes based on upcoming new releases for the same series needing to downsize before adding anymore. Not sure why there would be a problem for a series getting too large, but I have seen many retirements followed shortly afterwards by new releases of the same. Go figure. Robin.
Click to expand...

I hope you're right, Robin.
Was a bit surprised to see some of the PnM figures already on the retirement list.
That series is not very old yet.

Konrad
 
kogu said:
I hope you're right, Robin.
Was a bit surprised to see some of the PnM figures already on the retirement list.
That series is not very old yet.

Konrad
Click to expand...

First released Oct 2014, 55 sets later, almost one a week, more to come so they are now clearing some away to make room, get them while you can. Robin.
 
villagehorse said:
First released Oct 2014, 55 sets later, almost one a week, more to come so they are now clearing some away to make room, get them while you can. Robin.
Click to expand...

It is always interesting to see how the use of language can change your view of a thing. 'Almost one a week' makes it sound like the series has just swamped the TS world and replaced WW2 Germans and Naps as the big seller.
 
I've always found the phrase, "no less than" odd, as in no less than eight WWII sets were released this month.
 
Go for Broke said:
I've always found the phrase, "no less than" odd, as in no less than eight WWII sets were released this month.
Click to expand...



'There were only eight WW 2 sets released this month' sounds very different.

It is probably similar to the difference between saying 'I live on an island' and 'I live on Maui'. One sounds OK and the other sounds like you are living everyone's dream!
 
Jack said:
It is always interesting to see how the use of language can change your view of a thing. 'Almost one a week' makes it sound like the series has just swamped the TS world and replaced WW2 Germans and Naps as the big seller.
Click to expand...

No Jack, just swamped me, especially as I purchased multiples. ECW will never out do WW2 Germans and Naps as you rightly point out.^&grin, Robin.
 
I've always taken it to mean that "retired" refers to a set that is no longer being physically produced. I would say that by this definition everything is essentially retired after the first production run these days, aside for the odd set here or there that exceeds initial sales projections, and even then when there is demand we may not see more produced (e.g. the desert village wall). Smaller production runs was alluded to at a Westcoaster event a few years ago when someone asked what ever happened to the "strictly limited" sets of old. To paraphrase, the answer was that essentially everything was more limited now. So I believe, given this premise, the more accurate question to ask is not how are retired items determined, but rather at what point in time is a product's "retirement" shared with the toy soldier buying community?

Joe
 
There had also been several re-issues as well. Does that mean that anything that we will see more retired pieces, if given sufficient requests/demand, can be re-issued for another run? In fact, some of the retirements and re-issues are fairly recent. A different colour cow is still a re-issue, and I find it hard to believe that there were requests to bring this piece out of retirement when in the past, there were possibly more popular items that were retired and not reissued. Is it because there are less good sculptors today that it is better to bring old sculpts back? It is always easier to apply a new paint scheme than to sculpt a new piece/pose.

Regards,Chris
 
Hi Guys,

Many thanks for raising this interesting thread... and also for the number of speculative suggestions and reasons.

Here is a general guide to “How and Why” we retire certain items... in no particular order of importance...

  1. When we believe the market has bought as many as they are likely to buy.
  2. When sales reduce to a “trickle” down from a “steady stream”.
  3. When we want to release a newer or different or upgraded version of an older, existing piece.
  4. When it becomes prohibitively expensive to continue to produce a certain figure, vehicle or accessory based on the original production cost/retail selling price ratio.

As you see these are a variety of different reasons that come into play when the decision to “retire” an item is made.

Hope this information both helps and clarifies.

All the best and ... Happy Collecting!

Andy
 
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